ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND SMALL BUSINESS MANAGEMENT

P.PONNUDURAI, MD OF LION DATES IMPEX PVT LTD

SUBMITTED BY ELAVARASAN V (215110066) KATHIRVEL (215110098) RAJAPRIYAN S (215110105)

ABOUT P.PONNUDURAI, M.D OF LION DATES IMPEX PVT. LTD.

P.Ponnudurai, Managing Director of Lion Dates Impex Pvt Ltd, does not sport the smooth mannerisms of the average corporate don. On the contrary, he is proud about his humble beginnings and talks at length about the English tutor he had to employ, paying him a daily fee of Rs 100 for three years to learn the language, after a petrifying trip to Mumbai in 1992. The son of a landless farmer from Tiruchi in Tamil Nadu, who later went to Sri Lanka, Ponnudurai started working in a small provision shop from the tender age of 10. When his parents were sent back to India in 1974, the 17-year-old continued working in a provision store in Tiruchi at a monthly salary of Rs 85. Right from childhood he wanted to have his own business. So he got a bank loan of Rs 4,600 through a lawyer friend and started a small provision store, but with having no experience, it failed and he was left with a debt of over Rs 4,000. He next got a job as a junior assistant in the Collector's office at a salary of Rs 800. To enhance his income he sold Sabina packets. One day he saw some dates being sold loose in an unhygienic condition and asked the shopkeeper why could he not package and sell it. To needle him he said, why don't you pack and give it to me.' So he did. Thus began the story of Lion Dates; last year its turnover was Rs 120 crore. With his salary and income from sale of Sabina and dates, he soon wiped off his debt. After a while, the sale of dates went up to 500 packets a day. As he did not have a shop, he packed dates at home and personally deliver to shops and stores. Gradually he extended his sales to Chennai, being supported by Sabina distributors.

ABOUT THE COMPANY

Founded in the year 1978, Lion Dates introduced quality Dates to the Indian Market. It has been widely patronized by the quality conscious Consumers all over India, the company has now elevated to a new identity Lion Dates Impex Private Ltd with the expansion in its Product lines as mentioned below: 1. Lion Dates Deseeded / Desert King Dates 2. Lion Date Syrup 3. Lion Kashmir Honey 4. Lion Tamarind 5. Lion Jam Mixed Fruit / Pineapple Jam 6. Lion Oats Being a pioneer of Fine Quality and Modern Packaging of Dates, an ISO 9001: 2000 certified company, Lion Dates Impex Private Ltd is India's largest Dates processing and trading Company. The company has factories located in the city of Tiruchirappalli and nearby villages in India. With leadership in Health related products; Lion Dates Impex Private Ltds brand spreads across 28 states and 7 union territories in India. The mission that inspires Lion Dates Impex Private Ltds 1000 plus employees is to "Add Vitality to Life". Creative packs are available in the market ranging from normal day to day packs to gift packs, festival packs and family packs, not only in India but in East Asian countries and Europe also. Lion Dates Impex (P) Ltd has carried complete feasibility studies to examine the best possible ways to achieve the companys objective. The objective of the company is to introduce high quality Dates to existing as well as to the new market.

PRODUCTS OF LION DATES IMPEX (P) LTD

Dates (Pitted and Unpitted): Launched in the Market in 1978, our dates (pitted) are available in these consumer vacuum packaging 250g, 500g and 1kg. Lion Dates Impex Private Limited is the first company in India to remove seeds from the dates and pack it in various packaging 100gm, 200gm and 500gm. And our Desert king dates are available in 1kg, 500gm and 250gm. Date Syrup: This Healthy syrup which is a natural extract of dates which was launched in the market in 1998. Date Syrup is available in 250 gm, 500gm and 1kg - consumer packs Honey: Lion introduced Kashmir Honey in 1999 as it is Natures most complete and nutritious gift, honey is also endowed with useful therapeutic properties. Lion Kashmir Honey is sourced from the finest apiaries of India. It is extracted, processed and packed as per the Agmark standards. Lion Kashmir Honey is available in 1kg, 500gm, 250gm, 100gm, 50gm, 25gm and 20gm. Jam: Lion introduced Lion Jam in 2003 in two flavors namely Pineapple and Mixed Fruit jam and it comes in consumer pack sizes of 100gm, 250gm and 500gm. There are many health benefits provided by fruits jams. Unlike butter and cheese, they do not contribute to the cholesterol and fat content of your body. Oats: Lion introduced Lion Oats in 2009, it helps fighting with high LDL cholesterol (the bad cholesterol). Oats may also help stabilize blood glucose levels, which may benefit people with diabetes. We provide high quality oats in consumer packs of 1kg and 500gm. Tamarind: Lion introduced Lion Tamarind in 2000, It is considered as a must keep ingredient in an Indian Kitchen. It was introduced in the market and it comes in consumer pack size of 1kg.

BRANDING A COMMODITY
Very soon he had to give his product a name. It took just five minutes to do so. "I asked myself who is the most powerful being in the world and the answer that came to me was the lion, who is the king of the jungle. Mr.Ponnudurai said himself. As dates too are packed with iron and vitamins, he thought this would be the most appropriate brand name. But he didn't have the money to print labels from Sivakasi as he have to give order for a minimum of 10,000 labels, so he took the lion's picture from a political party's election symbol! Slowly he expanded his business to Madurai and Thanjavur and by 1983 his turnover had touched Rs 50,000. The profit margins were good and he started advertising on radio. For professional help with his ad campaign, in 1992 he got in touch with G.N. Dhinesh Kumar, MD, Saroj Ad Creators, who has now become a close friend and media advisor. However, what he failed to do was get his client to change the lion picture on his packets. He was very sentimental about it and said the product should not get the label of being too elitist. He wanted to promote dates as a health food for common people. Though skeptical about television ads, Ponnudorai gave Kumar a budget of Rs 95,000; we began with a 10-seconds spot, he wouldn't agree for even a 20-seconds spot, recalls Kumar. But two weeks later the entrepreneur agreed to a 40-seconds spot as he saw the impact on his sales. Now they have gone up to about 50,000 seconds per week all over India and they have spots in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Hindi, Marathi, Oriya and Bengali. The ads target Tamils in Malaysia and Singapore where Lion dates and other products are exported.

BRANDING STRATEGIES OF LION DATES

The brand was aware that to brand a commodity, it has to take some serious points of differentiation. The brand used Quality and Hygiene as is POD's. Lion also came out with different packaging and convenient SKU's that made this brand a leader in the market. Once the product became popular, the brand faced competition from unbranded dates. To counter the competition, the brand came out with a campaign highlighting the quality and hygiene of the brand. The company also tried to leverage the popularity by introducing India's first Date syrup which can be used to make various drinks and even substitute sugar. In 2007 the company launched a new drink based on Omani Date seed with the brand name "Takof" which is made from roasted dates mixed with chicory. The brand is not yet promoted in the market. Lion Dates has chosen celebrity endorsement as a route to attract consumers towards the brand. For this they chose Trisha as the celebrity endorser for Lion Honey. The brand is currently running a campaign in TV featuring this celebrity.

Trisha endorsing for Lion Honey with the G.N.Dhinesh Kumar, MD of Saroj Ads and a close friend of Mr.Ponnudurai.

LEADING MARKET THROUGH DIFFUSION OF INNOVATION

Along the way came value addition through seedless dates and Mr. Ponnudorai also began importing from Muscat. In 1995 he was invited by a Muscat Government factory that had made a lot of date syrup but did not know how to sell it. He personally began to experiment mixing of date syrup with milk at different temperatures. A few times the milk curdled, or the drink tasted horrible. But then I found that the syrup mixed in lukewarm milk really tastes good. The sales of the date syrup picked up but then the Muscat factory closed down in 2000. Luckily he knew a Keralite working there, so after consulting him he put up his own production plant and the product is doing very well. Obviously the desi version of crepes with chocolate or strawberry sauce, or pancakes with maple syrup! Another Lion product is honey; he first tried to make honey with dates, but that didn't do well. But the shopkeepers said give us plain honey,' and he did, branding it Lion honey. To continue with the health theme, last year Ponnudurai started marketing Lion oats. The company employs 600 women in cleaning and seed removing. Ponnudurai explains that in the date business particularly extraction of seeds there cannot be too much mechanization as it is a sticky product and will get stuck in the machine. The company imports 8,000 tonnes of dates every year and the bulk of it comes from Iraq (through Dubai) and Muscat. I was the first one to get black dates from Muscat. Then I started importing from Iran, Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria. Now I have started importing Jordanian dates; they are very good but very costly at Rs 1,200 a kg. Iraqi dates cost only Rs 100 a kg. As other players in the dates business are small, Ponnudurai estimates he has about 80 per cent of the market and he believes he should not sell something that is not good for the health of the people. Dates are packed with iron, vitamins and other nutrients that are good for the health of the entire family. Apart from dates, date syrup, honey and oats, they had tamarind too.

STRENGTH
Lion Dates is almost a monopoly in the Indian market. Brand image of parent brand act as differentiating factor for product in extremely competitive market. Excellent Packaging and quality practices. Advertising and promotional efforts are combined for all the products falling under family brand. Extra cost of brand creation is not required since they follow umbrella branding. Lion is a brand that has clearly demonstrated the ability of a marketer to brand a commodity.

PROBLEMS
Mr. Ponnudurai found it difficult to get labour in Tiruchi so his production centre are in villages around Tiruchi. Rely on imports to meet the market demand. Due to lack of dates supply from Oman the company was unable to fulfill the requirement of end users in India.

THREAT
Any product can negatively affect the overall brand and specific benefits may be muddled in the overall shared value. More difficult to achieve a distinct brand identity. Company can become identified with only one type of product. Consumers will expect every product with the same brand name to have the same level of quality that they are familiar with.

OPPORTUNITIES
Creating an individual brand name helps to achieve a distinct brand identity. Indian market demand can be fulfilled since the sultanate can export their export its surplus date production.

Dates have exceptional nutritional value. The fruit contains Potassium, iron, calcium, magnesium etc and is considered to be an energy boosting snack. Dates are also recommended by Doctors for older people. So there is a potential for these kinds of brands.

Indian Market consumes 5% of worlds total dates production which is steadily increasing.

CONCLUSION
Lion is a brand that has clearly demonstrated the ability of a marketer to brand a commodity. Dates have exceptional nutritional value. The fruit contains Potassium, iron, calcium, magnesium etc and is considered to be an energy boosting snack. Dates are also recommended by Doctors for older people. So there is a potential for these kinds of brands. And with the celebrity endorsement and product line extension it could satisfy the demand of end users in India. It is high time that they focus on achieving distinct brand identity than focusing on Umbrella Branding since it always carry a factor that any product can negatively affect the overall brand and specific benefits may be muddled in the overall shared value.

REFERENCE
1. http://www.sarojads.com 2. http://www.liondates.com 3. http://marketingpractice.blogspot.com/2007/05/lion-dates-makes-your-daycomplete.html 4. http://sarojads.com/html/blog/?cat=16 5. http://hrpsyche.blogspot.com/search?q=lion+dates